Rainbow Dash Presents: Haunting Nightmare
Rainbow Dash Presents: Haunting Nightmare is the sixth episode of the Rainbow Dash Presents series, adapting the short novel Haunting Nightmare by Pen Stroke. It features surreal moments, as well as a heavily stylized sequence with smoother animation than in previous episodes.__TOC__ Publication The video was originally intended to be posted to YouTube, like the other episodes, on June 23, 2012. Because YouTube's approval process took too long, Petirep and FiMFlamFilosophy decided to also upload it to blip.tv. The YouTube version was ultimately uploaded on July 31, 2012, though legal disputes have yet to be resolved. A version of the video featuring audio commentary by FiMFlamFilosophy and Petirep was posted to their website on August 5, 2012. Summary At the beginning of the video, Pinkie Pie is hosting a party in the library with all of the Mane 6, plus Spike, in attendance. When Zecora arrives, she and Rainbow Dash engage in a curse-off (a callback to The Mentally Advanced Series' episode 7), which the other ponies find extremely annoying. However Princess Luna interprets it as an invitation to join the party, and so crashes in and casts a spell on them. Luna's personality is similar to that of Celestia's in Rainbow Dash Presents: Spiderses, but she is more insecure, and seems more eager not to be seen as capricious and sadistic. As in that episode, the ponies in the library, plus Spike and Zecora, are sucked into a book and are told they have to act out its story before they can be freed. It is a horror story allegedly written by Luna and Celestia's mother. After being pulled in the storybook, the scene cuts to the barn, where Applejack, who has no recollection of what had happened prior to her current state, is "greeted" by Twilight Sparkle and Spike. Twilight, after explaining her plan ambiguously, leaves Spike with Applejack and leaves, saying that he knows what she means. Spike merely tells Applejack that "I'll tell you when it happens." Luna then shows her excitement about their "game", while Twilight simply brushes it off, and is more focused on finding a way out of the book. Luna, feeling rather insulted, tells her that if she were to stop telling the story, she'd simply leave her and her friends to rot in the book. After Luna has explained the rules to Twilight Sparkle, she is joined in the library-in-the-book by Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. Twilight finds out that all the ponies know that they are in a storybook. Rainbow Dash is rather exited to be in a horror story, and Pinkie Pie wants to use a spirit board she found. Twilight refuses to let Pinkie Pie use the spirit board, convinced that no good can come of it. However, when Dash makes a mess of Twilight's kitchen and the unicorn is forced to leave Pinkie alone for half a minute, Pinkie prepares to summon a being from another dimension with the spirit board anyways, mixing a number of different incantations. Returning from the kitchen, Twilight figures out what Pinkie had done, and then kicks both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie out of the library. She eventually goes to bed, after narrator Luna tells her that her attempts to find a spell to undo her situation will prove unsuccessful. The next scene plays almost entirely without dialogue. During the night, Twilight's body appears to regress to fillyhood. She is woken by a squeaking sound that comes from Mrs. Buzzy, a childhood toy that had been destroyed by Princess Celestia (as per what Twilight mentions in episode ... of the Mentally Advanced Series), but is now whole again. Mrs. Buzzy bounces away, leading her away from the loft and into a hallway. There she encounters another toy, Smarty Pants, which takes Mrs. Buzzy from her, rips it open, sticks two pieces of toast into it (the same thing Celestia had done to it), and jumps backwards against a wall, where it explodes into a bloody mess. The stain from the explosion morphs into a door, which opens to reveal Twilight's parents next to a bed packed with children's toys. The next morning, perspective shifts from Twilight to the other Mane 6. Applejack knocks on the library door and is greeted by a Twilight that has glowing eyes and a demonic voice. She claims that she cannot come out to play because she is busy with dental hygiene whereas in truth, as Spike explains, "she has been possessed by a demonic parasite" who aims to be eaten by yet another eldritch creature so it can reproduce. Luckily the real Twilight and Spike have prepared for this eventuality, and Spike knows what to do. He assembles the other Mane 6 (and Big Macintosh) and, after an argument in which Applejack punches Rarity in the eye, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash enter the library while the others wait outside, standing around a pentacle. Rainbow Dash investigates the bathroom and encounters tentacles reaching out to her from the toilet. The other two find Smarty Pants lying on the floor; the doll starts singing and transforms into a tentacle covered green monster. It chases them down the same hallway Twilight had been in earlier. In an attempt to increase her chances of escaping, Rarity trips Applejack, but the Earth pony is instantly absorbed without slowing the monster down. Rarity slams into a door and quickly enters the play room, slamming the door shut behind her. She sees the filly Twilight playing with figurines representing Rarity and Applejack, and with a Smarty Pants doll. She is reenacting the previous scene, with Rarity pushing the Earth pony aside to be crushed by the doll. As Twilight prepares to attack Rarity with Smarty Pants, Rarity lunges away from the door. The monster comes crashing in and into Twilight. Once they come into contact, the play room vanishes, leaving only Rarity, the adult and unconscious Twilight, and a lifeless Smarty Pants doll. Rarity takes her fellow unicorn by the tail and drags her out of the library, placing her into the pentagram circle. The possessed Twilight quickly wakes up again. Spike reassures everybody that no harm can come to them as long as the candles surrounding the pentagram do not topple over. The demon bucks one hind leg in the direction of Big Macintosh and Fluttershy, and the two fall over in surprise, knocking over their candle and breaking their magical hold on the creature in the process. The demon then summons a pink fog which puts the would-be exorcists to sleep. While the demon performs a triumphant villain monologue, Sweetie Belle/Thrackerzod emerges from the fog and explains that it has a prior claim to Twilight's body. The two are interrupted by Zecora, who is trying to dissolve the fog by wielding a tiny mini fan in her mouth. The two demons attempt to cover, saying they are doing normal things like normal ponies. Zecora seems to buy into their excuse. After the two demons come to an agreement, the demon possessing Twilight leaves her body, and Thrackerzod winks out of the scene. Zecora tells a confused Twilight that she saved her from the swamp gas, calling herself a "deus ex macarena". The video then cuts back to the real library. Luna, who had not appeared or been heard from since Twilight went to bed, shakes everyone out of the book. Applejack is covered in an unspecified gray goo, Rainbow Dash is wet, and Rarity still has her black eye. Luna says farewell and disappears. In another callback to episode 7 of The Mentally Advanced Series, Twilight glances at Zecora and asks for her shovel, but Fluttershy confesses that she borrowed it and can't give it to Twilight to murder Zecora with. Trivia *Sweetie Belle/Thrackerzod can be seen a couple of times secretly glancing through the library's windows, including at the very beginning and at the very end. *Pinkie Pie tries several times to drug Twilight's drink, foiled each time by lucky accidents. *In a reference to the previous episode, the ceiling painting seen in the wordless sequence depicts Orion, Aurora, and the balloon-supported Cutie Mark Crusaders. *The toys on filly Twilight's bed include several Ewoks, a Pikachu, a Pinkie Pie plushie, a Rainbow Dash figurine, a Gir, Woodstock from The Peanuts, Strong Bad and The Cheat from Homestar Runner, as well as Aurora's Rabbit and Mr. Bear from Enunciation Emergency. *Big Macintosh mentions the events that took place a couple episodes ago *The fic Haunting Nightmare was chosen by the winner of the Rainbow Dash Presents: Spiderses easter egg hunt. For winning the competition, he was allowed to pick what fic the team would paody next. *The commentary for this video is the first creator's commentary done for Rainbow Dash Presents. External links *The video on DawnSomewhere *Equestria Daily post *Rainbow Dash Presents: Haunting Nightmare, with commentary, on YouTube *Rainbow Dash Presents: Haunting Nightmare, with commentary, on Dawnsomewhere.com *Bones and Skin, the song played during the Rarity and Applejack scene, on YouTube References Category:Fanmade videos Category:Rainbow Dash Presents